#ANCKZN: Fears situation could turn 'volatile'

The ANC parliamentarian is facing disciplinary action for calling on her fellow comrades to vote with their conscience during the recent vote of no-confidence against President Jacob Zuma.

“I’ve been consistent about questioning, being charged by a structure which was battling to qualify its legitimacy with the courts.

“They were rushing to charge me. They wanted to fire me. I’m vindicated because I’ve been saying their legitimacy is questionable. Good always triumphs over evil, no matter how long it takes,” Khoza told the Daily News on Tuesday.

The ruling comes as the province is being ravaged by political killings which saw the establishment last year of the Moerane Commission of Inquiry, by Premier Willies Mchunu.

Khoza did not attend her disciplinary hearing at the ANC offices in Durban on Sunday. Instead her attorney, Smanga Sethene, attended on her behalf. On Friday, she reportedly said she feared being “gunned down” on her way to the hearing.

She had also publicly stated she had received death threats because of her stance on the state of affairs in the ANC. In July, she was charged, among other things, for ill-discipline and bringing the party into disrepute.

Asked what the repercussions of the judgment could be, given the province’s volatile political atmosphere, Khoza said: “My major concern about the province is that an urgent intervention is needed due to the volatility of the political arena. We can’t be a proud nation if we kill each other, if we don’t see eye to eye.

“This ruling has left me jittery because of the political intolerance in the province. Violence is an indication that we’ve run out of ideas, and that’s stupidity.”

She said people should understand that the judgment did not mean it was the end for those who lost, adding that the provincial leadership needed to consult the national leadership for guidance to avoid “dismantling” the party piece by piece.

Progress in Khoza’s disciplinary hearing would be determined by the action taken by the ANC’s provincial leadership, said Professor Bheki Mngomezulu, of the University of the Western Cape’s political science department.

“If they don’t appeal, then they can’t touch her as the current leadership will have to vacate office. Most interestingly, the outcomes of this matter will have an impact on the December conference,” Mngomezulu said.

Emeritus Professor George Devenish, research associate at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Howard College, said Sihle Zikalala’s victory over Senzo Mchunu had been “summarily invalidated”.

“In the 2015 KZN elective conference, the erstwhile chairperson - Mchunu - was defeated by Zikalala, and this had subsequently led to the removal of the former as premier in 2016. All this has now been summarily invalidated with a dramatic two-minute ruling by Judge Jerome Mnguni, declaring the 2015 elective conference invalid and thereby rendering a devastating blow to the existent ANC PEC.

“The consequences of the judgment could be very serious and unpredictable in a province wracked by political assassinations, factionalism and infighting,” Devenish said.

“Under Zikalala’s leadership, the province is enthusiastically supporting former African Union Commission chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma to lead the party after the December conference.

“In contrast, the erstwhile premier (Senzo Mchunu), representing the so-called ‘rebels’, have declared their support for Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa,” Devenish said.

Meanwhile it is business as usual for the ANC-led provincial government, Ndabazinhle Sibiya, spokesperson for Premier Willies Mchunu, said today. He said the executive council would have a meeting to discuss matters of service delivery on Wednesday.

“We want to assure the people of KZN that service delivery will continue and matters of radical economic transformation will be pursued by members of the executive council. It will be business as usual,” said Sibiya.

Mdumiseni Ntuli, ANC provincial spokesperson said they were appealing the judgment.